Ukraine will have to implement some 200 EU healthcare acts - official

MOSCOW. Oct 21 (Interfax) - Ukraine will have to integrate around 200 healthcare regulatory acts of the European Union into its legislation as part of its integration into the EU, Director General at the Ukrainian Government Office for the Coordination on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Alexander Ilkov said.

"We were thoroughly preparing for our negotiation process. We had a health screening process, and almost 140 agencies of Ukraine were involved, and they were self-checking their preparedness for this negotiation process. And in healthcare, we've identified around 200 acts of the EU that will have to be implemented in Ukraine," Ukrainian media quoted Ilkov as saying in a statement at the "European Integration of Ukraine: Healthcare" conference in Kiev.

Healthcare will be one of the key negotiation sections, he said.

One of the problems facing the implementation of EU acts in Ukraine is the update and development of European legislation, "which is changing all the time," Ilkov said. "Therefore, an EU candidate country should adapt not only current acts, but also legislation that is just being adopted in the European Union," he said.

"And this is not only a challenge for Ukraine, but also an opportunity for Ukraine to join EU programs that are now available to the EU members," he said.